The report – Mobile Phone Biometric Security – predicts that initial growth in the mobile phone biometric security market will come from embedded fingerprint sensors designed to protect the device and from voice biometric applications, which will be used as part of multi-factor authentication.

“Motorola has been heavily marketing the security benefits of using biometrics (fingerprint sensor) to protect its latest Android smartphone, the Atrix. It is even being called the ‘James Bond’ smartphone”, said Alan Goode, author of the report and founder of Goode Intelligence.

Key drivers of mobile phone biometric market growth include device security protection, mobile commerce, contactless technology, multi-factor authentication, and military and law enforcement applications, such as capturing biometric data and verifying identity in the field.

With the recent attack on RSA, leading to vulnerabilities being exposed in its SecureID token technology, there is a need for alternative authentication solutions; mobile phone-based biometric security offers such an alternative, the report noted.

“We believe a biometric groundswell is building. The market is currently slow; but pressure is growing. The conditions are ripe for rapid change; for biometrics to move from an ‘interesting concept’ to a 'must have' for all smart mobile devices”, Goode concluded.